Elephant Dung Coffee: World's Most Expensive Brew Is Made With Pooped-Out Beans

Would you pay $1,100 for a kilogram of specialty coffee beans? What if they were pooped out by an elephant?

It may sound like the stuff of satire, but that's exactly what's on the menu at four Maldives resorts and one in Thailand. The Anantara Hotels, Resorts and Spas properties offer Black Ivory Coffee, a specialty brew made with beans digested and "naturally refined" by Thai elephants.

According to a release, the off-kilter process engenders the beans with a special quality:

Research indicates that during digestion, the enzymes of the elephant break down coffee protein. Since protein is one of the main factors responsible for bitterness in coffee, less protein means almost no bitterness.

Only about 50 kilograms of the stuff are available for purchase, and each one will cost the adventurous drinker $1,100 per kilogram. About.com figures that amounts to about $50 a cup. For comparison sake, 16 oz. of Starbuck's House Blend retails for only $11.95 on its web site.

Elephant Dung Coffee: World's Most Expensive Brew Is Made With Pooped-Out Beans

Strange Foods Eaten Too Early Or Too Late

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Too Early: Balut

Balut, a popular street food in Southeast Asia, looks like a grocery-variety egg on the outside, but it may make you squirm once the shell is cracked open. Within is a fertilized duck embryo, developed often to the point of having a pointy beak and feathers. Diners who enjoy this delicacy eat it boiled, often seasoned with ingredients like chili, garlic and vinegar.
<em>Photo by Flickr user <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmparrone/5901071021/sizes/l/in/photostream/" target="_hplink">JMParrone</a>.</em>